In the area of connectors, a “connector assembly” is an assembly of two connecting elements (for example a male connecting element and a female connecting element) assembled to each other to make an electrical connection. Each of the connecting elements comprises one or more electrical contacts (male or female) suitable for assembly with the complementary electrical contacts of the other connecting element.
In some applications, particularly in the fields of aeronautics or automotive connectors, high environmental vibrations make the connecting elements move in relation to each other. These movements can lead to a loss of electrical bonding between said connecting elements within the same connector assembly.
In order to prevent the movement of a connecting element in relation to the other, fitting each connector assembly with a locking system for locking the link between the two connecting elements and thus preventing unintentional disconnection is known. Such a locking system must make it possible to maintain the connection, even when the connector assembly is subjected to vibrations.
To that end, the installation of a locking system around one of the connecting elements in order to lock each connecting element in relation to the other connecting element of the same connector assembly is known. Different locking systems are currently in existence. The best known system consists in a generally cylindrical locking ring mounted at the end of one of the connecting elements in order to hold the two connecting elements assembled. Said locking ring is generally a short hollow cylinder, henceforth called a ring, fitted with a first holding means intended to hold the ring free to rotate around a first connecting element and a second holding means intended to hold the ring on the second connecting element of the connector assembly.
Locking rings include locking rings where the second holding means is a thread for screwing said ring on the connecting elements, machined on the inner wall of the ring.
That thread is not always sufficient for maintaining the connection during vibrations, and so there are locking rings where the second holding means is supplemented by a series of notches intended to fit around a locking element. Those notches are also made in the inner wall of the ring, which has a series of notches intended to fit around a locking element. The locking element may then be a simple locking pin or a device that predominantly has a ball and a spring. In that second alternative, the locking element generally comprises a hole that opens out at the surface of the connecting element and forms a transverse recess. The locking element also comprises a spring placed transversally in the opening hole, that is to say placed perpendicular to the direction of the electrical contacts of the connecting element. That locking element additionally comprises a ball placed above the spring so as to be partly in the recess. That ball is positioned so as to be partly in the recess when the spring is relaxed and totally in the recess when the spring is compressed. In this alternative, the locking ring is mounted at the end of the connecting element so as to be able to cover the recess.
When the system is locked, the operator makes the locking ring rotate around the connecting element. The inner wall of the locking ring slides, notch after notch, around the end of the connecting element, and thus the locking element. Thus, the notched inner wall of the locking ring makes the ball move in its recess. That movement is brought about by the notches of the locking ring. That is because each notch has an asymmetrical tooth that is shaped substantially like a right-angled triangle. Each notch thus has a low lower side, and a higher upper side. The height of the upper side is substantially equal to the height of the part of the ball that projects out of the recess. Thus, when the locking ring is rotating, the lower side of the notches presses against the ball, compressing the spring. The ball is then entirely housed in the recess and does not project out of said recess. The locking ring continues to slide, and so the upper side of the notches is located opposite the ball, which can then move out of the recess in part as the spring relaxes. When the ball is partly out of its recess, it is locked in the notch of the locking ring, thus locking the connector assembly.
However, in extreme conditions, particularly with high vibrations or jolts, the spring can sometimes be compressed involuntarily, moving the ball into the recess, which allows the notches of the locking ring to slide and thus unlock said ring. Such extreme conditions occur, for example, in the field of automobiles, when a vehicle goes over a pothole or any other cavity in the road, or in the field of aeronautics, in air pockets or during landing impacts.